hypothetical_eventsfandomcom-20200215-history
2024 SEC Championship Game (Dane)
The '''2024 SEC Championship Game '''was a football matchup held on November 30th, 2024 in the Georgia Dome. In this SEC Championship, the 12-0 Kentucky Wildcats, on a historic run pursuing a national title, were ranked #2 in the AP Poll and #3 in the Coaches Poll. They took the regular season by storm on a stunningly easy schedule, with it's closest in conference matchup being a three touchdown win over 9-3 Georgia. It was Kentucky's first appearance in the SEC Championship game. On the other end, SEC entered the conference championship as the SEC West champions. They had two stumbles throughout the season, facing losses to Texas A&M and Alabama, but otherwise running the table to a 10-2 record and were #6 in the AP Poll. This 10-2 record won them the SEC West via tiebreaker over Urban Meyer's Auburn Tigers, and one game in front of Jimbo Fisher's Texas A&M Aggies and Gus Malzahn's Alabama Crimson Tide. It was LSU's first appearance in the SEC Championship since 2007, when the now retired Les Miles coached LSU. The game was held in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The stadium overflowed by several hundred occupants. The game was broadcast to a national television audience on CBS. LSU was favored by 11 and a half points entering the contest. Broadcast and Game The broadcast started normally, with the commentators welcoming the audience to the SEC Championship. They panned to the press boxes to find notable celebrities in attendance. On the Kentucky side, pro bowl defensive end Josh Allen, former Kentucky and NFL Quarterback Jared Lorenzen, and Actor George Clooney showed up. On the LSU sideline was Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, and music producer DJ Khaled. First Quarter The game got off to a slow scoring start. LSU opened with a slow and mythotical running attack down the field, eventually punching in a touchdown to start up 7-0. Kentucky responded with a 5 1/2 minute drive that ended in a 36 yard field goal just as time in the first quarter expired, making it 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. Second Quarter This quarter was quiet on offense. Near the middle of the quarter, Kentucky had managed to drive the ball on offense to midfield, but threw a costly pick six to the LSU defense, making it 14-3 LSU. This was the only score of the second quarter, resulting in a 14-3 score in favor of LSU at halftime. Third Quarter Kentucky punted on the opening drive of the third quarter, sending the ball back to LSU, who scored on a six-minute, 84 yard drive to make it 21-3. Kentucky got the ball back, absorbing the rest of the third quarter on another slow drive, this one going into the end zone for the Wildcats' first touchdown of the night, and inching the score close at 21-10 heading into the fourth quarter. Fourth Quarter To start the fourth quarter, the two teams opened with drives that each ended with field goals, bringing the score to 24-13 LSU with just nine minutes left in the game. The two teams traded drives, each eating clock, with Kentucky getting the ball back with 4:48 left in the game and down 11 points. This is where things would take a turn... Comeback Kentucky began to charge downfield, completing passes left and right. It was the quickest drive of the night, Kentucky scoring a touchdown with just 1:57 left in the game. This brought the game to a closer 24-20, still in favor of LSU. Kentucky ponders the onside kick, but instead chooses to kick downfield and trust the defense. LSU drains whatever clock they can, bringing it down to just 30 seconds left on the clock, but ultimately punting the ball back to Kentucky, 80 yards from the end zone with just 30 seconds remaining. The wildcats made a quick charge down the field off of there three remaining timeouts and short passes. Eventually, they remained about 45 yards from the end zone with just five seconds left... Not in range to try anything else, the UK offense attempts a hail mary. The hail mary flies across the field and into the end zone, where an LSU defender tips it out of range. The game is believed to be over until multiple yellow flags begin to fly. They called a penalty on LSU for pass interference, allowing Kentucky to move 15 yards forward and try again 30 yards from the endzone. On the second hail mary attempt, the ball is thrown high, but a Wildcat wide receiver makes an incredible, one handed catch in the end zone which quickly brought back shades of Odell Beckham. Kentucky ends the game, having won 27-24 off of a last second hail mary. Kentucky fans storm the field in excitement, creating a giant blob of blue on the field, while LSU coach Ed Orgeron and his players leave the field quietly. In the locker room, the players throw Kentucky coach Mark Stoops into the ceiling, doing damage to several ceiling tiles in the locker room. Rest of the season The Kentucky Wildcats (13-0) advanced to outright #2 in the country, entering the college football playoff in a matchup against #3 NC State, the ACC Champion. Kentucky wins this game, 28-10, advancing to the national championship. In the national championship, they played the #1 team in the country, the Penn State Nittany Lions. In a back and forth, the Wildcats won 24-21, becoming the national champions in football for the first time ever. The success was capitalized when Kentucky won the College Basketball Championship several months later, becoming the second team to ever win both in the same year. Meanwhile, LSU went on to play #10 Connecticut, the top group of five team, in a New Year's Six bowl game. Connecticut won 45-32, pulling a stunning upset of a college football giant. LSU finished the season at 10-4 and ranked #12 in the country.